JLI Torah Studies

Season Four

catalog - New Season Starting Wednesday, July 4 2018!

Chabad of Camarillo is proud to present our Torah Studies catalog of classes for Season Four.

At Chabad, we value a deep, rich learning experience and we aim to provide this in an unequivocal way. This is why we have brought you a Torah Studies program of the highest caliber, developed by the world-renowned Rohr Jewish Learning Institute. The program brings you a series of stimulating text and discussion based classes that take place on a weekly basis. Our lessons will engage you in a multidimensional way by challenging you intellectually, spiritually and emotionally. They explore contemporary issues through a Torah perspective as well as tackling timeless questions in the Jewish tradition.

I invite you to browse through the topics in this catalog and to join us for some weekly inspirational study. These classes are open to all, whatever your level of learning may be, and I encourage you to bring your friends along.

Please note: Each class stands alone, you may join us any week!

Shalom, Rabbi Aryeh Lang

No charge for class. Book fee $18

Wednesday, July 4 2018

Love What You Do

Finding Pleasure in Purpose

We all long for that vacation: sandy beaches, crystal blue waters, and picturesque mountain peaks. And then we look at the drab, grey office walls and our world goes dark. Is there any way to get the feeling of waking up in a hut on stilts in French Polynesia, while stuck in suburbia doing the same old, same old? In this lesson, we will find out how.

Wednesday, July 11 2018

The Perfect Orchestra

Nature’s on Your Side

Ever felt that you’re trying to do the right thing, yet everything is lining up against you? Is nature itself your adversary? Heaven forbid! A complex story of returning warriors and desert taxation reveals the encouraging message that when all is said and done, G‑d is orchestrating everything to help you out.

Wednesday, July 18 2018

From Mourning to Morning

Between Misery and Bitterness, Despair and Progress

Thousands of years after she lies in ruins, the Jewish people still mourn their holy Temple. Hasn’t that window closed already? Can we really be so pained so many years later? The sages’ take on the proper method of grief turns this mourning into a propeller for growth and a look toward the joy of tomorrow.

Wednesday, July 25 2018

Bringing out the Best

Looking at Challenge as Opportunity

“Comfort, be comforted, my children,” declares G‑d. Sounds great, but what’s the mystery of this double comfort? From the ashes of a sacked Temple to the ruins of our own lives, discover the balm for your aching soul—the secret to grabbing those tests and slaying them forever.

Wednesday, August 1 2018

Where Is Your Passion?

Joy is at the Depth of our Experience

When Moses descended from the mountain with the tablets in hand, he was met with a horrific sight: a nation gone mad. Horrified, he smashed the tablets to smithereens. But he knew about the carnage already on the mountain, so what changed when he actually saw it? Discover the secret Moshe saw and use it as a cautionary tale in your own life.

Wednesday, August 8 2018

Emulating Your Creator

Work Isn’t Just about the Money

Oftentimes we wonder what life would be like without working another day. Why do we have to work so hard anyway? Is there any point to all this toil and sweat? Of course there is: it is, in fact, your only chance to be just like your Creator. Relish it.

Wednesday, August 15 2018

Unlocking the Hair Lock

The Secret of the Upshernish

A prevailing custom in many Jewish communities is to leave the hair of a young boy uncut for his first three years. The first haircut is celebrated with joy and fanfare. What is behind this mysterious custom? Not so surprisingly—a lot. And it’s not just for kids.

Wednesday, August 22 2018

Mazal Tov, Mazal Tov!

Every Day Your Wedding Day

How does that sound? Not the expenses of course, but the honeymoon. Sounds great, no? It does, but the reality is that every day is certainly not the wedding day. The hair-splitting genius of an early twentieth-century European Talmudist uncovers a fascinating idea about marriage that should help reignite that romantic spark every day.

Wednesday, August 29 2018

Mind over Matter

The Tefilin Mind Game

Do you find your emotions difficult to contain? Welcome to the human race, my friend: the heart is a wild thing. The good news is that we have a built-in control, and it’s called the mind. Funny enough, the two boxes of tefilin affixed daily to the head and the arm have a lot to say in this conversation. Find out how in this lesson.

Wednesday, September 5 2018

The Need to Be Needy

Complacency Is the Graveyard of Growth

As we turn our eyes to a new year, the liturgy and practices of Rosh Hashanah emphasize time and again how needy, how humble, and how downtrodden we are. Why the depression? The story of an emigrating Babylonian sage seeking new heights gives us a lot of food for thought about our position in life—and what it takes to catapult to ever greater peaks.

Wednesday, September 12 2018

Jews in Shoes

Grounded Below, Turned Above

Of course we need shoes. It’s no fun walking barefoot over rocks, or around the kitchen after that glass pitcher shatters. Shoes are just a part of life. But all of a sudden, when it comes to holy days, places, and times, shoes are literally flying off our feet. What’s behind these mandated shoe removals?

Wednesday, September 19 2018

Don’t Kick the Sukkah

Religion Isn’t Just about Feeling Good

Avraham serves angels and is rewarded with a sukkah. We sit in a sukkah and are to be rewarded in messianic times with a sukkah of Leviathan skin. The gentiles kick their sukkah when it’s too hot, and the Jews calmly walk out. Discover the meaning behind this bizarre sukkah medley.